AG
Aaron Gehrke
  • Class of 2015
  • Paynesville, MN

Aaron Gehrke to Perform with Legendary Rock Band Kansas

2011 Sep 19

Paynesville native, Aaron Gehrke, a student at Augustana College and member of the Augustana Orchestra (Violin II), will accompany 70's rockers, Kansas, on mega-hits such as "Dust in the Wind," "Carry on Wayward Son," "Point of Know Return" and others in a vocal-meets-orchestral-meets-rock extravaganza in the Great Hall of the Washington Pavilion. The concert will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14, and is part of Augustana's 2011 Viking Days celebrations and the "Kansas Collegiate Symphony Tour," an initiative designed to raise awareness and money for collegiate music programs nationwide. Tickets for the concert are available at washingtonpavilion.org.

"This is an excellent opportunity for our student musicians to perform before a live audience, in a beautiful facility, alongside a world-famous band, in a concert that will raise money for Augustana's music programs," said Dr. Christopher Stanichar, director of the Augustana Orchestra and associate professor of music. "We're thankful to Kansas for inviting us to participate in this great program. Our students are simply thrilled to be a part of it."

Kansas bandmembers say they came up with the idea for the tour after contacting various college orchestras, only to find out they were financially challenged.

"We started by cold-calling schools all over the country to find out if there was interest in us coming to play with their orchestras. We immediately discovered that most schools have no money for their music programs. We then thought of performing the shows as fundraisers, helping to raise funding for the school's music programs. As we started talking to the schools, we found out that many of them don't even have a place on campus for a school symphony concert...but they do have an 80,000 seat football stadium! I had one school music director actually break down emotionally on the phone with me - he was very distraught that this might be his school's last year with a music program. He thought this concert might actually save the music program for another year," the band says on its website.

The Augustana Orchestra is one of the major ensembles at the College with the goal of providing a valuable training ground for orchestral musicians while producing high quality and exciting musical performances.

The history of the Orchestra is filled with experimentation and challenge. Founded in 1922 as a collaborative organization with the growing city of Sioux Falls, the Orchestra became the original South Dakota Symphony. For many years, the focus of Augustana's Orchestral Program was within that model until the enrollment at the college grew as well. This growth led to a second opportunity for string players and the study of orchestral performance on campus.

About Augustana

Founded in 1860, Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., is a selective, residential, comprehensive college of the Lutheran Church. Committed to enriching lives and fostering development, Augustana combines a foundation in the liberal arts with professional skill and advanced study, leading the Templeton Guide to include the College among those that inspire students to lead ethical and civic-minded lives. With more than 1,850 students from 25 states and 30 countries, Augustana is featured among "America's Top Colleges" by Forbes; was ranked among the top 10 baccalaureate colleges in the nation for its efforts to advance social mobility, research and service by Washington Monthly; has been named a "Best Midwestern College" by The Princeton Review; and is identified in Peterson's "440 Great Colleges for Great Students."

Augustana celebrated its sesquicentennial during the 2010-2011 academic year.